The world No. 3 Tennis Star Daniil Medvedev, is competing at the US Open this year, where he won his first-ever Grand Slam in 2021. When he isn’t on the court in Flushing Meadows, Medvedev plans to tune in for some of the other matches happening at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The only hurdle is that his hotel isn’t airing the tournament.
“I guess in a lot of hotels they have Spectrum,” Medvedev stated this during his post-match press conference on Monday. “I cannot watch it on TV anymore.”
The cable provider is now at odds with Disney — the parent company of ESPN, which has sole broadcast rights to the tournament — over their inability to reach an agreement on a new contract. Channels falling under the Disney banner will be unavailable to Spectrum users until the two parties reach an agreement.
But Medvedev isn’t about to miss the US Open matches he wants to see because of the conflict. He stated that he will “have to find a way.”
“I will, I don’t know if it’s legal or illegal, … but I got internet, these pirate websites, so I watch tennis there,” states the 27-year-old with a smirk. “I have no other choice.” You can check it out in a tweet posted by @TheTennisLetter:
Daniil Medvedev can’t watch the US Open because his hotel has Spectrum:
“A lot of hotels have Spectrum. So I can’t watch on TV anymore. I don’t know if it’s illegal, but I have to find a way. Probably pirate websites.. I have no other choice” 😂 pic.twitter.com/UUQ6b5FLmI
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 5, 2023
Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American who advanced to the US Open semifinals on Tuesday, revealed during her post-match news conference that she, too, is staying in a New York hotel where watching the tournament on cable is not a possibility.
“I’m not going to get into it,” remarked Gauff with a chuckle. “But we can’t watch ESPN in our hotel.”
@GettySport shared a photo of Medvedev and Mike Stobe while highlighting Medvedev’s Quarterfinal win. He is poised to go up against Carlos Alcaraz in the Semi-finals with a date yet to be announced:
Daniil Medvedev was the last man (barely) standing after a Quarterfinal win against his friend Andrey Rublev in brutally hot conditions at the U.S. Open
📸: @albello55, Mike Stobe #USOpen #USOpen2023 pic.twitter.com/VZoFuHFK00— Getty Images Sport (@GettySport) September 6, 2023
